VOLUME 8: ISSUE 7
In recent months, The Silver Lining eNews has focused on the ways our community of supporters help Dream House achieve our mission.
Volunteers and Community Partners help us accomplish more than you may realize!
Meet Amanda. She worked at the Dream House corporate office in June and July as a participant of the Gwinnett Technical College Summer Jobs for Youth program. Amanda, and many other teens from Gwinnett-area high schools who volunteer to earn community service hours, assist Dream House staff with data management and administrative tasks critical for licensure reporting, grant applications, and communications with friends and supporters. These young people also gain practical business experience.
We frequently partner with other non-profit organizations on special projects. A group from Creative Enterprises, Inc. in Lawrenceville, Ga. made it possible for the quarterly printed Silver Lining Newsletter to mail on schedule in July. Volunteer David said, "I liked working at Dream House a lot. I thought the people were very friendly and I enjoyed sealing and stuffing the envelopes."
Our volunteers make house calls.
Families caring for their medically fragile children at home have needs that are never-ending. As resourceful as the day is long, these everyday heroes use ingenuity and thrift to get by. Yet, they call "heroes" the Dream House volunteers who make quality of life at home better for their kids.
Dream House Family for Keeps™ Bridging the Gap Program has matched numerous volunteer groups and individuals with families in their communities. The self-dubbed Heaven's Helpers are gaining a reputation for special home modification projects, like building a handicap access ramp and replacing a rotting deck for a family in Dekalb, yard work in Cobb to help a family prior to moving day, as well as the occasional repair job at the Dream House Lilburn Transition Care Center.
In June, we told you about The Meiflower Project that spruced up the Hammetts home. The Hammetts returned the favor in July by bringing their three children to the Atlanta Falcons Training Complex to spend time with punter Michael Koenen and film a promotional video for Dream House.
We are thrilled to congratulate the Gwinnett County EXCEL Leadership Class for winning the 2009 NACo Achievement Award for Volunteers/Acts of Kindness. In seven weeks, this group raised thousands of dollars worth of cash and materials, designed and built a pavilion, sandboxes, sidewalk, retaining wall and installed landscaping at the Dream House Lilburn Transition Care Center to provide accessibility for children in wheelchairs and a shaded activity spot for those who are unusually sensitive to sunlight and heat.
EXCEL class member Amanda Reed commented, "I know I can speak for all of our class in that we are forever changed and truly blessed by the Dream House organization and our project. As a mom of a special-needs child, I now have a new resource to share and an additional cause for advocacy."
Events and volunteers go hand-in-hand.
Events provide the very best way to broaden awareness for the plight of medically fragile children, and make it possible for Dream House to change the status quo. Budding relationships formed at these events grow to complement every dimension of the Dream House organization.
Since January 2009, 144 Dream House volunteers have logged nearly 2,000 hours in various event activities. For each major Dream House fund raising event, a volunteer steering committee leads the efforts: sponsorships and publicity, logistics, and event-day volunteer recruitment and participation. Many local businesses and community groups name Dream House as beneficiary of their charitable events.
These 2009 totals will soon explode as more than 600 volunteers make possible the remaining calendar of events that include: September 12th events in Lilburn City Park Main Street Fair and Banks & Shane in concert at Music-on-Main, the Dream House 500 Ride and Tim Hawkins Comedy Event in October, the 2nd Fridays in Old Town Lilburn that continue throughout 2009, Abigail Grace Chambers Memorial Football Tournament in November along with the event named Best of Gwinnett Charity Social Event two years running Boot Scootin' Barn Raiser, as well as volunteer efforts in 2009 for the 2010 Michael Koenen Dream House Golf Classic.
Volunteer advocates help move mountains!
As we all know, important things take time. Dream House is the first and only agency in the country to apply for and receive licensure as a Children's Transition Care Center (CTCC). It has taken Dream House Board, Staff, and volunteer advocates over four years to make this dream come true.
This new licensure will allow the Dream House Family for Keeps™ Transition Care Program to offer the programs and services necessary to facilitate hospital-to-home transition of medically fragile children back to their families and communities...where they not only survive, but thrive!
We are so very grateful to State Representative Clay Cox (GA District 102), State Senator Don Balfour (GA District 9), Georgia Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, GAHSC Director Normer Adams, VP of Government Affairs for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta David Tatum, and the staff of the Georgia Department of Human Services Office of Regulatory Services for their advocacy support during this licensure process.
